Your choices for unique birth announcements are limitless.

Your baby is finally here and you want to spread the happy news. There's no better time to get creative. In fact, getting your collaborative ideas together before the baby is born would certainly give you a head start. Just think of how busy you'll be after the happy occasion!

Don't leave your decision about a birth announcement to the last minute. As you get closer to the due date, try to prepare in advance so your birth announcements can go out as quickly as possible after the birth.

Theme Announcements

You can theme your announcements: cars, baseball, ballet—whatever.

If you're not particularly creative, there's help out there in cyber space. Just go online and check out all the sites that offer truly unique birth announcements. Choose the design you like best, then add a photograph and your baby's vital statistics, and you're ready to go. Why not try a new baby newspaper front page?

Within moments the whole world can have instant access to your announcement. You can always print out copies to send to your friends and family who aren't online yet. You can wait until the last minute, and then just drop in the vital statistics. How easy is that?

Make a Baby Web Site

If you're looking for ideas for unique birth announcements and are thinking of posting your baby news online, take it a step further and give your baby his/her own Web site. Scan in a photo, enter any details you want, and you've got an instant birth announcement: Just send your friends and family the URL.

A baby Web site is a great way to keep everyone updated as your baby grows—when he/she first slept through the night, turned over, crawled, etc. You get the picture! Several companies will give you free Web space and help you set up your site if you don't have one already. Send out a mass e-mail to everyone you know directing them to the baby's site. While the mother and baby are still in the hospital, the father can take photos and upload them to the site.

Homemade Announcements

Diapers. One idea that really is just for traditional mail is to have a diaper (the old fashioned cloth diaper) printed with all the baby's vital statistics. It will take longer to get the news out, but it is sure to get a lot of smiles.

Postcards. For snail mail, consider homemade postcards with the baby's foot print stamped on the front and the stats on the back. Or glue a photo of your baby onto a postcard backing, list the vital information and you've got a ready-to-mail announcement. You can also scan the card into your computer and send it out via an e-mail attachment.

Personalized Gifts. Of course, you also can send out personalized gifts such as bars of chocolate with all the information printed on the candy wrapper. Or order specialized newspaper reprints with the headline announcing that great arrival. Once again, the Internet is your source for things creative.

In the end, whether you select a truly unique birth announcement, a traditional one or just call your friends on the telephone or e-mail them—the important thing is to have a happy and healthy baby and enjoy your life together.